I have yet to figure out why I torture myself the way I do. I somewhat tolerated the first book but the second book, Etherworld, felt like I was being slowly bored to death.What a horrible way to go.
Short recap: Regan and her posse are on the hunt for answers to what happened to her father and what is really going on with the Elusion app that is about to hit the market worldwide.
Sounds like an exact repeat of book 1, does it not? Well, it is. I felt like so little actual headway was made in Elusion. The characters, as bland as they are, were heavily set up and backstoried in the first book but no real action or movement took place. I still never read a reason why this futuristic setting was the way that it is or what man did to make it become so toxic. I might be splitting hairs but I do like everything to line up properly to give me the full story.
Regan and her group of friends didn’t develop much, if at all, in the first book. So how am I to believe that they are some badass no fear having group in this book? Regan is still the smart but not too smart girl who just so happens to know what to do. Give me a break. Example: After coming out of Elusion and under suspension of having some sort of psychosis, Regan was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Quickly realizing that nobody would take her seriously, she tried messaging for help from a girl she hardly knows. She somehow figures out that she can send a message from a wall unit tablet and magically it will not be traced? And then she “quickly surveyed her surroundings” and knew exactly what to do to escape the exam room. She overtook a hospital employee and rushed out the door. She continues to fight her way downstairs to meet up with the person she randomly messaged. Mind you, she’s never been in this hospital before but she knew exactly what path to take, what turns to make, and just what to do to overtake trained security. You need to get away from me with that mess. Regan could barely walk a straight line in the first book and now she is taking down trained security? Men that are three times her size? Get out of here. The rest of this Scooby Doo group was written the same way. They all somehow just knew how to work together and each had hidden special skills that allowed them to complete their tasks. Sounds generic to me and like it’s just crazy enough to make it easy for the author to move the story along. This pretty much irritated the crap out of me. Don’t make it easy for the sake of moving the story along. I’d prefer to have something a wee bit more believable. Yes, I know this is a futuristic dystopia fantasy but I need to have some sort of believability. This story didn’t have that.
I felt like this book really let me down. I was hesitant with the first story but it hooked me enough to want to continue. This book? PFFFFT. Full on dumpster fire. The first book felt like a complicated puzzle that needed to be solved. This one? Nope. It was a massive technical jargon info dump. The first one third of the story really was nothing but technical double talk. I could barely understand what was being said and it made me feel stupid. I do not like being made to feel that way by a story. It make the entire plot unstable. First, we are given highly complex explanations of “proxy tunnels” that would be needed to destroy Elusion. Then we are given overly simplistic resolutions to issues – such as Regan needed to have a pass card made and BOOM!, a friend “knows a guy” who can make them. He didn’t make her any pass card… it was a special pass card that could open any locked door without fail. Are. You. Kidding. Me.
There was nothing really complicated or shocking about this book, if you overlook the insane amount of unnecessary technical mumbo jumbo thrown at you. The ending is predictable and lacked tension. The author tried to throw a red herring with the reveal of the villain, but I didn’t care enough about anyone to really be shocked. I did read this duology back to back and it didn’t make the experience any better. It made me realize just how fluffed up the characters were in the second book in order to move the story along. Again, the character did not have time to advance that much as this book picked up right where the first book finished. Nobody in this universe is going to develop powers overnight. We aren’t in the MCU here so don’t play that with me. Am I disappointed in this story? As much as I can be, yes. Would I recommend? Not a chance. Don’t fall victim to the pretty cover and blurb word play. This really is not that engrossing of a story. I’m not sorry I read it, I only wish I had DNFd when my eye rolls were getting out of control.
